To clean or not to clean..... An important question..

[IMAZTriBabe]

I have close to 100 pieces of silver and silver-plate flatware. I have read a number of pros and cons about cleaning and polishing. My gut tells me to gently clean with a polishing cloth and that’s it. These pieces are anywhere from 50 years to 100+ years old and honestly feel that “polishing” them will really take away from their character…

All opinions and comments are welcome…

Thank you…

[silvermakersmarks]

Always clean, but gently and not too frequently, would be my advice. The black oxidisation on silver is equivalent to rust on iron and steel; would you leave your best tools rusty?

[Jeff_Herman]

I advise washing with a plant-based soap that has a neutral pH.